Blogging Guide: Blogger for Beginners
Learn about Google’s blog platform
Since it’s 1999 inception, Blogger has hosted a wide variety of internet blogs. Blogger sought to be the go-to place for anyone to blog about anything, and it still remains that way today.
Throughout the years, Blogger has grown from a small site with few features, to a platform where millions of people host their own blog.
Blogger’s price tag had to have caught your attention, even if you never used the platform. Every other blogging site on the internet has some sort of paywall or monthly cost associated with their services. Not Blogger!
They have built a quick, smart website anyone can jump onto and create something inspiring. The best method to describing all that is Blogger is to simply walk you through the basics of the site.
Let’s begin by creating a blog of our own.
The only requirement to start a blog with Blogger is a Google account. Create one and join me here when you are done. Chances are you most likely have a Google account already.
Visit Blogger.com and you will stumble upon a reading list page. This page should display information from Blogger’s own blog. And you will see a settings tab as well as a create blog button. Hit that button to get started!
Now that you’ve created a blog, there are a few steps we need to review. First, you need to give your blog a name. Name your blog whatever you like. For demonstration purposes, I’ll name my blog Friendly Freelancer. When you're finished, hit the next button.
The next section asks for a website address so people can find your blog online. Unfortunately, so many individuals have taken site links, so you’ll have to try several. For example, my blog’s name isn’t available, so I added a the in front of the blog name and that worked. You can see my attempts below:
Once you have a name and address your happy with, hit save.
Congrats! You have a blog of your own. However, this isn’t the end of the tutorial. I’m not done explaining what the site has to offer. Sit tight, and I’ll cover everything you need to know.
Once your blog is created, you can customize pretty much anything you like. Let’s start by going over the basics of Blogger, so you can get used to the site.
Aside from your reading list and the settings tab, you have 7 pages you should fully understand before you continue. Blogger breaks content down and displays them as Posts, Stats, Earnings, Pages, Layout, and Theme.
Posts
Since you just created a blog, there won’t be any content to display. Once you start writing, all content will be categorized in one of the three sections: Published, Draft or Scheduled.
Most blogging sites show readers content similarly. For instance, Medium stories are sorted in a Drafts and Published page.
Stats
The stat’s page displays your current follower count, the total number of published posts, and all comments.
As you can see, we don’t have any statistics as this blog is brand new. As you write, your followers will increase. Additionally, you can view your analytics at any time by visiting this page.
Comments
There isn’t much to learn here. The comment’s page shows you every comment you have received on published posts. Check back here occasionally to see what your readers have to say.
Earnings
Again, the earnings page is straightforward. Earnings shows you the total amount of monies you’ve earned blogging on your blog.
In order to earn money on this platform, you must create an AdSense account and link it to your blog. You are unable to earn money in the beginning as your blog will be too small. I’d recommend gaining blog traffic before thinking about earning.
Pages
The page’s section lists every page you have created in an organized manner. Blogger sorts blog content via pages. You can create as many pages as you fancy.
Remember that any content you create can be assigned to a page. And all pages are shown in either Published or Draft.
Layout
Blogger created a unique menu which enables you to re-arrange content in boxes around a given page. Each box can be edited to suit your blog’s needs effectively.
Try fiddling with your page layout until you find a good fit. Simply click the pencil icons next to each box to edit its contents.
Theme
Blogger provides a couple of standard themes free of charge. These themes are simple, but they aren't lame by any means. Take your time and locate a theme you love. Every theme can be previewed, customized and applied to your blog!
Now that you know a little more about Blogger, it’s time to create your first blog post! Head over to the Posts page. Then, hit the New Post button on the top left.
Every Blogger article asks for a title and post content. So, give your first article a name and write away! I wrote a quick title and post below:
After writing your post, there are a number of settings that can be changed.
You can add labels to your posts, schedule a post, add or change a permalink, add a location to your post, and disable commenting.
Additionally, it's easy to preview posts by clicking preview beside the publish button. When you’re ready, hit Publish to send your first post out for the world to see!
Blogger can be confusing when you see a handful of menus. Hopefully I’ve provided a useful guide on the basics of the site. Enjoy blogging on Blogger!
